Meet Alex Goodier – the Triathlete!!

Alex Goodier and her trainer!

Do you know Alex Goodier? You don’t? Oh really, well I want you to, so am going to tell you something about her. Alex Goodier wanted to try something different in her life, something, considering her health problems, she shouldn’t be seen doing. She heard of a triathlon competition through her friends and company who is a sponsor to the event. So she told herself she wanted to take part, she found herself a very special trainer, Darren Fuller (Darren, you are super wonderful by the way). The activities for the competition included a 750m swim, followed by a 19.8km bike ride and a 5.4km run. Gulp!! By the way, she hadn’t ridden a bike in 39years and she was petrified of open black water, she had health problems plus she clocked 50 years earlier in January. Amazing right? By the way, a triathlon is a multiple-stage competition involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance disciplines. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances.

Her doctor told her she has ‘Rip Roar’ and ‘Fibromyalgia’ – Fibromyalgia is a disease with countless number of symptoms and especially known for causing extreme pain, extreme fatigue, and ability to cause weight gain. But she wasn’t deterred anyway, her eyes were set on competing in the triathlon. Finally the D-day came, Darren had also been entered into the competition so he would be there to support her and keep her safe like he had been doing for the past months they met. Her friends and family, and Darren’s wife were also there to support and cheer her on. She was nervous, wow, she was really doing this.

Alex Goodier and Darren Fuller during the race!!

They arrived on site and had to walk for what seemed like a mile to get to the start point. They registered and got on the ground, then they had to embark on another long hilly and steep walk to the courtyard of the Blenheim Palace to get to the transition area to put their bikes and kits in place ready for the race. The race had barely begun and this woman was already exhausted, I can feel the exhaustion from right here myself. Next was the 750m lake swim. First they had to walk about 400 meters in bare feet over rocks, gravel, pavement, grass, then finally go down the steep embankment to the swim area. Hmmm…did I mention earlier she was petrified of black water, this particular lake was black as night. (I don’t think I want to find myself in that, I mean, am afraid of a pool even when I can see my feet in the water, how much more, black water..no no no, freaking No. She did manage to get in but instead of floating, she was terrified, hence she was sinking, struggling to stay up, bottom-line, she went crazy, I know I would. Then they had to make a 400m walk up-hill in their wet-suits back to their bikes for the next leg. Finally, shoes and helmet were in place and they were off on their bikes. There was no time to rest, every lap had to be completed within a time-frame and they were seriously lagging behind. They had 3 laps of the cycle course to do. That first lap was much longer and steeper, than they anticipated. Darren quickly came up with a plan to get them through the 3 laps. The last two laps were a little better but still difficult. (Just imagine going down a steep road on your bike….Aaaaaaaaaaargh- that’s what will come out of my mouth all the way.

By now they were so out of time and they still had the last part of the race to run or walk to the finish line. Mind you, the other participants had finished by now, some had even left because they had to go rest for work the next day, but a good number stayed, they wanted to see her cross the finish line. Amazing yea, when you have people cheering you on, it would be an understatement to say Alex was exhausted by now and in pains!! About 100m to the finish, it was just Darren and her. She heard the man on the mic telling people to come over as she was finishing. The announcer then started explaining how much she had to overcome over the last 12 months and on that day.

Darren had always said he wanted her to run across the finish line. (It’s worth pointing out that she had only started running a few months before for 20 seconds at a time.) At this point, she wanted to make Darren proud and all of those people who had come to cheer her up. She wanted to finish strong. So, she started running before Darren asked her to start, and Oh My, she crossed the finish line strong!

She did it. She is a TRIATHLETE!! She completed a Full Sprint Distance at The Blenheim Triathlon in 4 hours 50 minutes on Sunday 14 June 2015.

Alex and Darren at the Finish Line

Am here screaming Wooooooow, Yipeeeeee, Booooyaaaaaaa. I love you Alex, I love your determination and persistence despite all. You are truly an inspiration to so many people around the world, myself included.

Hmm, wow, simply amazing, you can tell from reading her story, the determination, the zeal, the persistence with which she pursued her goal. Needless to say “Opportunity meets Preparation”. And my oh my, she did prepare for a year to take part in this competition. She simply came across the opportunity and told herself, hey I can do it. Why not? Are you also thinking of doing something different? In your business, sports, personal, or relationship affairs, etc? What are you waiting for? The second coming of Christ?? Sometimes, in fact, most of the time, we should engage in activities that will enrich our lives, for the fun of it. Life is too short to be uptight all the time.

A loser is not someone who tried and didn’t come first, or someone who came last. No, never, a loser is that person who didn’t try at all!! You don’t have to be a superstar to be a winner, you just have to try, and trying makes you a WINNER all the time. – Mary Job

If you feel inspired and would like to share your thoughts, or tell us your experience, please feel free to leave a message or comment below, I would love to read your stories too. If you would also like to read about Alex’s story in her own words, please visit her page here – https://alexandragoodier.wordpress.com

You are probably thinking why my posts are sometimes long, am sorry, there is just too much to say, and I try to make it very short in the most interesting way I can, for you my readers. I love you all!!!!!! Muaah!!!

On a last note, I think competitions should have a trophy for last place positions. What do you think??

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Published by Mary Job

Mary Job is a Writer & Business Development Manager at How Do You Tech. She is a WordPress enthusiast and also runs bloggingNigeria.org in her spare time. She stands by her belief that anyone can blog and everyone should.
View all posts by Mary Job